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Everyone complaining about theming here has clearly never worked in the entertainment industry. (I mean, everyone here is probably a kid lol.) The cost to theme a ride to the level of Universal or Disney is $100 million or more. Yes, that's the gold standard, but Silver Dollar City will simply never have that kind of budget to work with.

Materials costs are skyrocketing thanks to global market conditions. Labor for the creative work is also expensive. It takes thousands of hours to develop highly themed areas. Is Miner's Mountain Express going to have mind-blowing theming? Of course not. But I think the park is doing a fantastic job within their budget. I'm really excited about the preserved mining head frame.

Construction photos from yesterday's FanFest. Miner's Mountain Express definitely looks larger in real life. That second lift is much taller than I expected it to be.

https://www.instagram.com/p/DdhOwMioyUx/?utm_source=ig_web_button_share_sheet&stkn=MzRlODBiNWFlZA==

I don't believe this is a straight up Youngstar model. It's been reported as a prototype model for Mack. It looks similar to Youngstar, but could technically be a new model.

The trains and running rails look like a pretty exact match. It's the cross tie decoration underneath the track that makes it different. I think it should feel pretty similar to the other Youngstars we have in the US.

Something I haven't heard anyone mention is the announcement art. I think the concept art of both the ride and Daredevil Pass are pretty great. The color schemes and textures of the key art are miles above what other parks have released this year.

The announcement video is also phenomenal. People put a LOT of effort into the announcement materials.

The 1st in the States comment definitely raised my hopes.  This meh coaster should have been themed to a Universal or Disney level judging by the hype the SDC marketing department created.  I guess it fills a need, but they sure made it look like an exciting coaster, which it is not.  I just hope with this bland layout they will finally theme a coaster to the level of "the best theme park in America" cause so far, that is a massive joke.

Agree that marketing needs to really chill out with the hyperbole.

Disagree that this won't be an exciting coaster. Just because it's a Youngstar model doesn't mean it won't pull forces. I prefer rides that rip your face off, but these modern family coasters are just fun. Vekoma's got it down. Mack is sure to make them nervous.

Don't talk like this is a "kiddie" coaster, because it's not.

Absolutely wild watching everyone fall apart in this forum over a family coaster.

It's pretty obvious there are mostly young people here going off the fact that "Hagrids-level theming" was expected. Miner's Mountain Express is a sub $50 million investment. Hagrids cost Universal $300 million. Universal and Disney spend huge sums of money on their theming, and regional parks just don't have that budget.

With that said, I think MME's theming looks great, even right now. Walking through the site this morning made me appreciate just how much rock they've laid. It's a huge area with a LOT of landscaping. The finished path by the tower already has some nice plant life coming in. The station area itself is bare, but I see the potential there.

In terms of the ride, I knew to expect a family coaster, so I was actually surprised to see more intense/interesting elements in the layout. A wave turn? Great. Some surprisingly long airtime hills? Incredible. And the weird trick-track thing in the tunnel is going to feel bonkers, I know it.

Many elements feel like a direct callback to Thunderation. That final dive out of the tunnel is a completely mirrored moment. The exit from the station, too. And the second or third helix (the one that banks almost 90º) is reminiscent of Thunderation's tightening spiral into the tunnel.

One of those lifts is almost 100', too! It won't sit too far below Powderkeg.

I don't love the name, but from what I've heard, that was a corporate decision. I'm super hyped about the name for the new section of the park. Daredevil Pass freaking rips.

The Wild Moose is a great ride concept. Looks like there will be one going to a park in the midwest in 2027 (not SDC, though).

I wouldn't say that RMC and SDC have a great relationship, though. As I understand, the park isn't exactly in love with how Fire in the Hole turned out.

I will be there for the host town hall meeting that'll happen before the media event on Friday. I'm excited to see what it is first-hand

Keep it a secret. We wouldn't want any spoilers to ruin the fun.

Has anyone taken a stab at creating a layout in NoLimits2 or Planet Coaster based on the footers? I know there are incredible aspiring designers out there, but all I've seen from the SDC fanbase are laughably bad (and embarrassing) AI-generated videos of ride concepts.

I made a hyper layout in Planet Coaster back before the helix garden existed. Mostly just because I wanted to see how I could fit a hyper in that plot of land (spoiler: it didn't work). I'm really itching to get back into Planet Coaster and sketch something out before August 14, but haven't had much time after work to get started.

Ride concept I just thought up, what if there's like a part in the track where the spike is and there's no roll back and it's just a tilt over like a seesaw or something. Nothing crazy of a grade like 45 degrees up and maybe 60-65degrees back down

Honey, what are you talking about?

lol as I said I'm trying to reserve judgement here since we got less than two weeks to go now before the announcement. We shall see what happens with this layout soon enough.

Looking at this layout with the tower up here it would be neat if part of this actually went underground with a tunnel but it's hard to say one way or another if that is what's happening with what we see right now. It would seem to be a no brainer element with the theme though. Have riders meander around the station then launch into some kind of top hat element and down into a tunnel to "enter the mine shaft". Lots of thematic possibilities here and I hope they took notes from what Mystery Mine got right.

I think if there were underground tunnels, we would have started to see earth work taking place.

The candle theory is interesting, but I count three launches.  One into the helix garden.  One down the hill.  One back up the hill.  I just don't see how else the ride will function otherwise. 

I count two. One out of the station up to the helix garden, and then one from the helix garden up past Powderkeg's first hill, which I assume will be the tallest point in the ride.

There's more to the candles and more to it than just the coaster, WAY more!

You're setting yourself up to be underwhelmed, brother. This will be a really great family mine train, perfect for the park, but not much beyond that.

Mini miners expedition?
Maramos mine expedition?

You're so close with "expedition," but that title is reserved for Dollywood's new addition. What do we call a train that travels quickly from point A to point B? 

Hint: Dollywood has already used this naming convention.

On a side note, the contents of the influencer boxes seem to hint at the ride layout. The two candles could definitely be taken as a metaphor for two launches/lifts. One to "work by," and one to "bring you back home." The ride's terrain layout will almost certainly call for an extra boost at some point to get trains back to the station.

The closer we get, the more it becomes clear that this ride will be themed and marketed as a direct Thunderation replacement.

The SDC PR team brought the Fool's Gold Rush banner to a recent TV appearance. Looks like that will be a key element of the theme.

But if I were a betting man, I would put money on the name having the initials "MME," as seen on the coins sent out in the influencer boxes.

Mine train heaven, here we come.

I found this on Ozarkly: https://www.ozarkly.com/stories/theming-upgrades/

This gentleman works with Robotics for SDC and keeps a lot of the special things about the City going.  The reason I'm posting it to this thread is near the end of the article it states : "He's also busy creating elements for a top-secret project that will be revealed later this season".  Gives me hope that they are really going all out with the theming for the new ride. 

The park's creative team is very small, but they all love their jobs and they're all very excited about the new ride. I think it will be a career-defining project for many of them.